DeGrussa copper-gold mine. Image: Sandfire Resources
The company completed a 23,374-wet-metric-tonne shipment of copper concentrate, which disembarked from Geraldton for a customer in India.
According to Sandfire, it is valued at approximately $64.5 million at current copper prices.
This surpassed the previous $52 million record from December last year.
Sandfire managing director and chief executive officer Karl Simich said the shipments provided another major milestone for DeGrussa.
“This shipment is higher in value even than many large iron ore shipments and sets an impressive new record for the DeGrussa Operations,” he said.
“It provides a further indication of the extremely strong demand for high-quality copper concentrates globally and reinforces the deep, liquid and mature nature of the global copper market.
“With a strong production base in Australia and development of our new long-life Motheo-T3 copper mine in Botswana gathering momentum, Sandfire is extremely well placed to capitalise on what some forecasters expect to be a new super-cycle for copper as the global energy transformation takes hold.”
Copper demand has strengthened this year due to a ramp up in demand for electric vehicles (EV) and other new energy technologies.
“We are continuing to see copper prices driven higher by a tight supply situation and rising demand from the green energy sector,” Simich said.
The DeGrussa Operations include the DeGrussa and Monty copper-gold mines.
Its production guidance for the 2021 financial year is projected to be at the upper end of 67,000 to 70,000 tonnes of contained copper and 36,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold.
In the 2020 financial year, the Degrussa Operations produced 72,238 tonnes of copper and 42,263 ounces of gold.